Mark Morton

Dr. Mark Morton is one of the very few bassists in the United States that can accurately claim an equal measure of experience as: a principal in a major symphony orchestra, an internationally recognized double bass soloist, and a leading, innovative pedagogue. Additionally, Dr. Morton plays and teaches both French and German bows, and is an accomplished pianist – often accompanying his students in lessons and recitals.

Morton has played under the direction of many conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Lorin Maazel, Alexander Schneider, Hans Graf, Gunther Herbig, Vladimir Spivakov, Maxim Shostakovich, Gunther Schuller, Nicholas MacGeegan, Marvin Hamlisch, John Williams, Henry Mancini, and Mitch Miller. Dr. Morton has twice appeared as the guest principal bass of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada, Pinchas Zuckerman, Music Director. He has performed in Alice Tully and Avery Fischer Halls in Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Musikverein in Vienna, La Scala in Milan, and has appeared in Carnegie Hall, New York City over 30 times.

Morton has performed on stage with many pop artists including: Dizzie Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, James Taylor, The Beach Boys (twice), Brian Wilson, Three Dog Night, Doc Severinson, The Eagles, Jose Feliciano, Marilyn McCoo, Peter, Paul & Mary, Judy Collins (twice), The Smothers Brothers, Marichi Cobre, Ricky Scaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Asleep at the Wheel, Boyz2 Men, and many others.

Additionally, Mark Morton is an accomplished pianist, having appeared as a piano concerto soloist with several orchestras, including the Houston Symphony Orchestra. His recent release on Albany Records, Bottesini Greatest Hits features Morton accompanying himself on piano, for which American Record Review says, “Mark Morton is a fine player on both instruments, and the music is lovely…” Fanfare commented, “His intonation is fine, and he certainly handles the bravura passages well.”

Formerly, Dr. Morton was an instructor of double bass at Capital University, and Ohio Wesleyan University, and was the assistant double bass instructor for Gary Karr at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut. In the summer, he taught and performed alongside members of the Los Angeles, Chicago, Montreal, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras at PRISMA in, Powell River, British Columbia. He also teaches and performs at the Festival Internacional de Música in Naolinco, Mexico. Additionally, he has been on the faculty of a number of festivals in Costa Rica.

In the summers of 2012 and 2013, Morton traveled to Parma, Italy where in the Conservatorio di Musica ‘A. Boito', the Giovanni Bottesini manuscripts are housed. There, he took 3837 digital photographs of these manuscripts and is currently cataloging them for the Biblioteca Palatina in Parma, preserving these priceless documents in perpetuity.

Though he has spent most of his career living in Ohio and New York City, Dr. Morton is originally from Texas and is a 4-year Texas All-Stater – 2 years as second chair Symphony Orchestra, and two years as first chair Symphony Orchestra. The DrMarkMorton YouTube Channel is a go-to reference for TMEA All-State audition demonstrations, excerpts, etudes, and solos, and has garnered over 6000 subscribers and more than 1.15 million views. https://www.youtube.com/c/DrMarkMorton

Dr. Morton earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Juilliard School in New York, being the only bassist to earn the Artist Diploma, Bachelor, Master, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees all from Juilliard. While there, he was a member of the first historically informed performance group at Juilliard - the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra - under the direction of harpsichordist Albert Fuller. The JCO performed a 13-city, 10-country tour of South America in the summer of 1983. Morton was also a member of the Bach Players, a student-formed ensemble that performed all the major orchestral works of J.S. Bach. His principal teachers include David Walter, Channing Robbins, Stuart Sankey, Eugene Levinson, and Winston Budrow.

Morton performs on a double bass made in Milan, Italy by J.B. Guadagnini in 1765, a very large orchestral double bass made by Joseph and Antonio Gagliano in Naples, Italy in 1805, and a copy of his Guadagnini bass by Paul Hart of Mt. Pleasant, UT in 2013. Mark Morton is the author of the popular “Dr. Morton” series of double bass technique books and has numerous articles in all important trade periodicals.

Former students have achieved the following accomplishments:

2 students were in the final trial period for principal bass of the Detroit Symphony

1 student was in the final trial period for principal bass of the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa, Canada)

Professor of double bass at the University of Iowa

Professor of double bass at Oklahoma University

Professor of Cello and Double Bass at San Angelo State University

2 students have been first-prize winners of the ISB Solo Competition (professional division)

3rd prize in the ISB Solo Competition (junior division)

Member of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.

Members of the Lubbock, West Texas, and Amarillo Symphony Orchestras

2 students went on to graduate school at Indiana University

Attended Boston Conservatory

Attended Carnegie-Melon University

First-prize and second-prize winners of the Columbus Symphony Concerto competition

First Chair of the TMEA All-State Symphony Orchestra